Louie Gohmert who refused to wear a mask tests positive for COVID-19

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) questions Attorney General William Barr who appears before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., July 28, 2020. /Reuters

Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The 66-year-old has frequently declined to wear a face mask while at Capitol despite health advisories urging U.S. citizens to wear masks while in public in order to avoid contracting the disease.

CNN reports that Gohmert tested positive on Wednesday morning during a pre-flight screening at the White House. He had been scheduled to fly aboard Air Force One with President Donald Trump to Midland, Texas, where he is fundraising and touring an oil rig.

Gohmert told CNN last month that he didn't wear a mask because he had been tested and he didn't yet have the virus. "But if I get it, you'll never see me without a mask," he said.

Having initially refused to wear a mask, U.S. President Donald Trump wore a face mask in public for the first time on 11 July, finally yielding to intense pressure to set a public health example as the coronavirus rampages across the country.

Trump wore a black mask during his visit to Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington to meet with wounded veterans.

The U.S. is the worst affected country globally by the COVID-19 pandemic, having reported more than 4.3 million infections and over 149,000 deaths.